Aspen Music Festival commission + conducting debut

Last year the Aspen Music Festival commissioned me to compose something a little… unusual: a piece for 8 pianos and 32 hands (yes, that’s 16 pianists in total).

I initially balked at the idea. Having composed several works for multiple pianos, I was already well aware of the inherent difficulties. A piano’s sharp, percussive attack leaves little room for error in synchronization. Achieving precision with two pianists can be difficult enough; sixteen pianists seemed destined for chaos. Moreover, contrary to intuition, when multiple pianos strike the same note simultaneously, the sound doesn’t increase in volume; the sound waves seem to clash in mid-air, canceling each other out in some sonic tug-of-war. Then there were the duet logistics: writing for two pianists at one piano can be a puzzle of awkward hand collisions, yet the solution can’t always be to spread out the four hands over the full range of the piano—the result would be a grating steamroller of sound. Writing for 16 pianists across 8 pianos exponentially compounded these concerns.

But beyond the technical challenges, the most important question I kept asking myself was: How do I musically justify all these pianos and pianists? What’s the reason for 16 people on stage?

I spent five months working on the score, day and night, even asking for a one-month extension. The process was more demanding yet more creatively fulfilling than I anticipated.

Titled Star & Stripes: Fireworks for 8 Pianos, 32 Hands, the 10-minute work is based on John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars & Stripes Forever March.” Conceived on a grand scale, much of the piece features unique effects made possible by the mass of pianos. The 16 parts weave together overlapping layers of tremolos, scales, and arpeggios that blend into sonic impressions of clouds, fireworks, and rainbows—like painting with sound.

I conducted several of my pianistic idols and mentors in the world premiere (and my conducting debut) at the Aspen Music Festival, including Veda Kaplinsky, Hung-Kuan Chen, Arie Vardi, and Anton Nel.

The score is available here, and enjoy excerpts from our dress rehearsal over on my Instagram account.